Belize Stands to Gain from Regional Environmental Forum

Orlando Habet

The Minister of Sustainable Development, Orlando Habet, traveled to Panama recently to take part in a meeting of Central American Environment Ministers. It had to do with an agenda for the next few months as Panama takes over the leadership of that organization. Among the discussed topics was the establishment of a regional Meteorological Centre. Minister Habet told News Five that the environmental leaders also discussed the funding of a Meso-American forest project.

Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development, Climate Change & Disaster Risk Management

“There was a concept paper that was developed. We reviewed the concept paper and we made our comments, so hopefully the final draft will come out and once we all agree it comes to our authority in Belize that would sign on, that would be the Ministry of Economic Development so that we can share in the funding to do that landscape conservation, preservation. The project is really to conserve and preserve our part of the landscape, but also to look at how we can ameliorate certain problems like intrusion into our territories, establishing of illegal cattle-ranching, preserving our water resources, but also at the same time, making sure that there’s a sustainability factor there and a livelihood factor that can still serve the communities along these areas so they can have a source of income and food security.”

Minister Habet says that Belize will assume leadership of the forum in 2023.